This is a personal blog where I will be writing about family, photography, cooking, gardening, living in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico and growing older. And maybe anything else that happens to interest me. You've been warned...but feel free to read along.

Monday, September 17, 2007

What is happening with Fuji?

Since I'm going to Houston I've been ordering stuff to bring back with me. I need film for the Holga. The shop here in San Miguel that develops my 120 film has three rolls of film. That is it, three rolls.

Would you believe that I can't order Fujifilm from B&H or Calumet and get it delivered to Houston in time to bring back with me? True. B&H just says out of stock and Calumet says it will be 4 to 11 days before they have it in stock. Fujifilm is changing the designation of their color film from NPH to just H. I don't know whether it will be new and improved but probably so and also cost more. I can get Kodak color film from Calumet or B&H but for a 20 pack the difference in price is about $1 a roll....and guess which one is cheaper....the Fuji of course. At the rate I'm shooting the Holga right now, I want at least 60 rolls. I'm trying to decide what to do. See what I can get in the camera stores in Houston or "waste" $60 for the difference in Kodak over Fuji.

The cost of shooting with the cheap plastic Holga is significant. I want to bring enough film back with me to last until Christmas time. I estimate that I'll shoot 2-5 rolls a week. At 5 rolls a week, I need to bring back 60 rolls of film. More or less the Fuji is $3.50 a roll and the Kodak is $4.50 a roll.....times 60 rolls. Now add in the cost of processing the film at $3.00 roll (cost in San Miguel) and you are around $500 for film and processing for three months time. So in a year's time I could buy 3 Canon XTi cameras for the cost of film. Mmmm.....Ned reads my blog....maybe I shouldn't post this!

Since I've been shooting digital cameras and not worrying about the cost of film, keeping film on hand and traveling with film for several years, I'm kind of bummed out about it. I've never needed film and not been able to get it when I wanted it. Hello.......the world is going digital and film is going to be harder and harder to get. I use to be able to always get my film hand-checked through security but now I'm not sure what I will run into. I know what the "rules" are but you never know how the security people will be feeling on the day you go through the airport.

A friend recently told me that I have a special voice with the Holga camera images. That voice could be turning into a scream.

UPDATE: Just went to the B&H website and they now have Fuji film back in stock. So now I just have to worry that it will reach me before I come back to San Miguel and worry about getting it through security without it getting zapped.